Lifesaver
by GirlforGod99
Summary: AU/ At the lowest point in her life, Sophie finally is given a glimmer of hope to help her crawl out of the deep whole she had dug for herself by her anorexia. Discover Thomas, the two year old that saves Mikey's daughter, and just how he does it. (Sophie is my OC. She is Mikey's daughter.) Please Review! *Ch. 10 question* **Do you want a one shot of the whole intervention?
1. Chapter 1

Sophie - 15 years old

Sophie found herself limping to the bathroom in the middle of the night, ready to upchuck the last of her supper. If she could just get the last three pounds off from the peanut butter sandwich her Uncle Don had made her eat, she could finally go back to sleep. She looked at her arms, they were still chubby up by her shoulders.

She remembered the night so clearly, when she'd thrown the pills out and vowed to Taylor she was gonna fight her eating disorder. She knew, in the back of her mind that the bones in her arms were starting to show, and that there really was no reason to try and upchuck, but she ignored her logic, thinking perhaps she was trying to conjure up an excuse not to try and lose those last three pounds.

Like every time she purged, she started by stepping on the scale to weigh herself. "145 lbs." She muttered to herself. Her goal was to be at 140 lbs. She had used Donnie's computer and looked up the average for a fifteen year olds weight. All she could find was of an average sixteen year old human, which was between 114 - 168 lbs. She knew she couldn't get to a hundred fourteen without her uncles and father noticing. Plus, she knew her shell was about 15 lbs. of the weight, she couldn't lose that.

It was never a choice anymore, to binge. She would often go three to four days without eating, and finally be so desperate, she had to eat, but of course that just started the whole cycle over again. Ever since the guys had found out, they acted really gentle around her. She hated it. At first, she had done this whole thing to forget about her grief over Splinter's death, but now found it as a comfort, a nonstop obsession to keep something about her life, anything, in her total control.

Besides isolating herself from her uncles and father, April and Casey had stopped letting her babysit Jasmine. It broke her heart, because she really loved Jasmine, and now had lost everything she loved. They now treated her like she had some kind of contagious disease, which she could give their daughter. When this happened two months ago, her eating became strictly about control and routine. She'd get up in the morning, get a glass of water, go back to her room, and try to do ninja training, if she could. Most days however, she just lied in her bed, in a fetal position, trying to ignore the pain in her stomach, crying and playing loud music so the others wouldn't hear.

Now, she leaned by the toilet as she started to think about disgusting things. The rats that crawled around the sewers and of the vile, disgusting sewage that flowed outside the door of the lair. She thought about the pain of her grandfather's death, and the looks she imagined her uncles harbored about what she did to herself. It was all her fault, she knew. Then, putting her finger in her mouth, down to her uvula, she coughed for a minute, before the routine roll of her stomach alerted her to the upcoming flow.

After the purging, she leaned back against the opposite wall. When this all started, she had enjoyed the feeling right after a purge. It was a sense of relief, an accomplishment. Now, it just reminded her of the next three to four days to come, the guilt, the starvation, and the lies she knew she'd have to tell. Feeling her eyes well up with tears, she didn't even bother to wipe them away. Her mind drifted to Taylor, she knew he was scared for her, but simply didn't know how to help her. Her purple clad uncle, on the other hand knew what to do, just didn't know how to do it.

Hearing a knock at the door, she stood up quickly, a passing feeling of dizziness reminding her, once again of what she'd just done. Slowly opening the door, she quickly exited before anyone could ask any questions. She hadn't even noticed who stood at the door when she opened it, being so quick to retreat back into her room. She did know, however, that whoever it was would come back.

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	2. Chapter 2

She waited in her room, knowing whoever had been in the bathroom would inevitably be at her door soon. Hearing the bathroom door shut a minute later, she braced herself for the intrusion she would soon encounter. As if on cue, she heard the knock on her door. She stepped aside as her Uncle Raph came in. "Hey kid, you ok?" Raph asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sophie snipped, maybe a bit too defensively. She gulped, knowing she'd just given away her cover. Her red clad uncle, who would usually get angry and go off at her, just looked away, trying to think before acting, a rare event she knew. Looking back at her, he took a deep breath before speaking.

"Did 'ya write it down?" He asked. About two weeks ago, Donnie had given her a notebook, and made her write down every time she purged, in order for him to treat her. It also reduced the secrecy of her binges, but even Raph knew she didn't keep track of all her purges.

"I was gonna." She replied. Raph gave her a hard stare for a few seconds, before she cringed and averted her eyes. Even with her eating disorder, she had never been able to get away with lying to Raph. He had made that clear to her with a one on one round of Randori, and she's been at the receiving end. He hadn't been cruel, he was just firm. "Ok, I wasn't gonna." Raph's eyes then went softer as he embraced Sophie.

Sophie was surprised at this action, but didn't reject it. It was so rare that her red clad uncle hugged her, she wanted to take advantage of it. "We all miss him kid. But what would he think if he saw you doing this?" Raph asked, looking in her eyes. Sophie looked away from him.

"Don't bring sensei into this!" Sophie snapped. "It's not his fault, it's mine! If I hadn't been so weak, I wouldn't have this problem. No wonder April and Casey took Jazz away from me, I'm an idiot!" Raph looked at her, startled at the way this conversation had just turned, and shocked how much blame his niece really put on herself with this eating problem. He also knew how much taking care of Jasmine had meant to her. He, himself had thought that had been a bit drastic.

"You, Hamato Sophia are not an idiot!" Raph started. "If I ever hear you say that again…" He stopped, Sophie knew he meant business. "As far as April and Casey go, they shouldn't have done that, but they are her parents, so there's nothing we can do." Raph said as he growled internally at April and Casey. "This eating problem isn't your fault either. Sensei's death affected us all. We've just been focusing on the grief of the death, we've forgotten how to be a family. So this is partly our fault." Raph looked down at his feet at this realization. It made a lot of sense. "Sorry kid."

Sophie couldn't take this. As far as she was concerned, this was entirely her fault, so he shouldn't be apologizing. Breaking away from his embrace, Sophie shifted from the foot of her bed, where she'd been talking and tucked herself under the covers. "I can't talk about this anymore. I'm sorry Uncle Raph. Can I just go to bed, please?" She asked as Raph sighed, knowing he's hit the core of the problem when he mentioned Sensei, and it made her shut down.

"Sure kid, but only because it's late. We aren't done. " Raph got up, and pulled the covers up by her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Night kid."

"Night Uncle Raph."

**** Yay, chapter two is done. Wasn't that sweet. Next chapter, we'll meet Thomas!" ****


	3. Chapter 3

The next day as Sophie woke up she felt like something was wrong. Sitting down quickly in meditation, she soon felt a familiar presence as she walked onto a familiar part of the astral plain she visited so often. Suddenly she heard a voice from behind. "My beloved mago, it is so good to see you." The voice said as she turned to see Splinter standing, just as true and tall as he'd been before.

"Jichan!" She cried as her grandfather embraced her. She cried for a minute as he simply held her. "You have no idea how much I've missed you." She finally said as Splinter wiped away her tears.

"As much as I would love to have a long conversation with you, this isn't the time." Splinter started as he released her. "I have a message for you." Seeing her nod, he continued. "There's a horrible fire about to burn a large apartment building soon. I need you to go and find a small boy and get him out."

"Of course Master. But, there must be hundreds of people in this building, why is this one boy so important?" Sophie questioned, now ready and willing to obey.

"He is the key." Splinter began. "He has an important purpose, I can sense this. His survival is imperatively intertwined with your own, in more ways than one." Just then, in an instant Sophie found herself alone.

"Wait Sensei!" She yelled into the open emptiness. "Where do I go? What do I do, should I try to save anyone else? What does he look like, his name? Sensei!" It was then apparent that her sensei was gone and she was alone. Right before their connection ended, one last thing was said.

"You can do it mago!" Splinter said as she was forced out of the astral plain.

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Grabbing a banana as she zipped past her father who was cooking omelets, she wished she had time and desire to eat one, but she had to get the boy out before it was too late. She then realized she was going on mission and needed her weapons, and possibly some food, for the kid, of course. Running back to her room, she quickly collected her Kamas and a large handkerchief and went to the kitchen. Grabbing a few pieces of fruit and some cereal, she was stopped by her father.

"Sophia, where are you going in such a rush?" Mikey asked, a bit worried his daughter was going on a binging trip.

"No time to explain. Splinter, big fire, the boy. I promise when I get back I'll explain everything!" With that, a frantic Sophie tied up the handkerchief, running out of the lair. Soon, she found herself out of the lair, running down the tunnels. Wondering which manhole to go out of, she soon lost her footing and tripped. Brushing herself off, she looked up and saw a ladder leading topside. Looking at the rails, she found them all painted yellow. She then knew this was her sensei's sign. "Thanks Sensei." She said to herself as she climbed up.

Surveying the area above the manhole, she soon crept out, being extra careful to stay in the shadows, since the sun was up. Going up to the rooftops stealthily, she then trailed pretty smoothly until she saw it. Just as Splinter said, it was a wide clay-brick apartment building. Although wide, it only was about 8 floors.

She looked in fear at the fire which was quickly making ash of this building, she prayed she wasn't too late. Stealthily making her was down the fire escape, she dashed through the only door that wasn't engulfed in flames. She knew she had to go up to a higher floor to find this boy, but the staircase in front of her were unstable. Taking a hook shot out of her belt, she clicked the button on the device as it flew out and latched securely on the rail above her. Pulling herself up as she retracted the hook shot, she suddenly heard a loud cry.

Going through the entry as she rearranged the singed wood of what once was the door, the cry continued leading her to the apartment where the sound was coming from. Looking in the apartment, she soon felt heat coming her way, then a child's scream. Rushing to the sound, she saw the small boy looking out at her, his legs being crushed by a fallen crib. Looking closer, she saw a burning blanket about to burn hiss arms.

Through sheer will, she threw the singed parts of the crib off his legs, and picked him up. Feeling the abandoned blanket singe her hand, she yelped as she quickly retracted her hand, wrapping her palm around the boy's torso. Turning around, she realized the entrance to the small bedroom she had come in was now burning. Her adrenaline sped within her as she looked around and found the window. Slamming it open, she leapt out, the boy in hand.


	4. Chapter 4

Running down the fire escape, she decided not to take any chances, heading right into the manhole in the first alley. Suddenly, she felt a small head fall on her shoulder. "No, no, no! You need to stay away!" She yelled as she checked the small boy's pulse. Spotting a small medical alert bracelet on his chubby arm, she looked at it. _Thomas Berger_ was all she could make out on account of the irritation that was starting to sting her eyes. Looking back at the boy, whose head was now laid on her plastron, she ignored her burning eyes as she tried to examine him, but soon found it useless. She didn't have enough light, even with her T-phone.

After walking for a while, her mask burnt at the edges, she finally reached the lair. Straggling into the lair, weak from walking and now feeling the effects from the smoke that she had breathed in, she collapsed. A voice soon awakened her as she felt Thomas being taken from her arms as she heard Raph and Leo talking over each other before she was moved from the floor. "Sophia, kid; what happened? Are you ok? Who's the toddler?" Sophie's eyes fluttered open as she saw her Uncle Raph carrying her to Donnie's lab.

Sophie tried to answer, but found her throat too irritated to voice an answer. Instead, her body wracked with violent coughs before turning into dry heaves. "Sophie, Sophia...calm down, breath." She heard her purple clad uncle say as she was placed on the cold metal table and felt a rush of fresh, plastic smelling air come over her, thanks to the breathing mask that was set over her mouth and nose.

"Just relax mesume." Her father said, coming into the lab. Seeing her burnt hand, Mikey was handed a roll of bandage and burn cream from Donnie as he got to work. Meanwhile, Donnie moved over to the desk where the small toddler had been laid down by Leo, who was already assessing the damage. Sophie tried to lift her head, to see if Thomas was alright, but was forced back down by her father's hand, telling her not to move.

Getting all the energy she could, she finally spoke. "Thom...as. Is h-he ok?" She said, her raspy voice apparent as she coughed at the burning this simple question had generated. Looking over at Donnie, Mikey quickly turned back to his daughter.

"He'll be fine. Rest now, Donnie and Leo will fix him up." Mikey said as he sat on the chair beside her singing a familiar lullaby.


	5. Chapter 5

Sophie woke up the next morning, feeling a lot better. Strangely enough, she didn't feel the usual pang of hunger or she had grown so accustomed too. Looking down at her arm, she spotted the reason why, an IV had been meticulously placed in the bend of her arm, she knew administering fluid to rehydrate her, _fatten her up_ was more like it. She suddenly became very self conscious. This would ruin days of all the accomplishments she had achieved. She had lost 7 pounds in the last week, and had finally successfully starved herself for six days, with only one binging session.

Although angry, she decided to be smart about the removal. After removing the layers of tape and tegaderm from the IV and pausing the machine, she carefully pulled the small tube from her arm. Using her teeth to rip the bit of tube that had laid inside her arm, she replaced the rest of the iv, using a new tegaderm and tape to make it look like the iv was still in her arm, when in reality, the whole thing was just laying on her skin with tape atop.

Just as she was finishing, she heard footsteps outside. Panicking, she quickly tidied the bed, hiding the trash under her blanket. She prayed it wasn't her purple clad uncle, who would know immediately she had tampered with the IV. It was, she gulped. Seeing Sophie awake, he proceeded to check the IV. He sighed when he saw the machine. "D*mn" Sophie cursed under her breath. She had paused the machine.

Don resumed the machine and soon the tape on her arm exploded off, dripping saline all over the floor. Donnie looked up at Sophie. "I was gonna take it out Sophie!" He yelled, quickly unplugging the machine. "Why would you do that!? You can't do this! You can barely stand up. Why won't you let us help you!?" Don finally took a breath as he looked to Sophie, ready to cry. Sophie felt terrible, she knew he was only trying to help, but she couldn't relax thinking about that liquid being pumped into her, plumping her up.

Sophie stopped, being very careful with her next words. After she thought about it for a moment, she sighed. "Could I have some water and an orange?" Sophie asked gently. "At least I'll know what I'm eating." Don looked at her strangely, reminding her she didn't like oranges. She nodded. "I'm not eating for enjoyment." Don nodded, it was a start at least.

Separating the segments carefully onto the plate, she portioned out two to eat. Donnie saw this. "Five, at least eat five. Please Sophie." She growled under her breath. It was about ten calories a segment, which was a lot, but she complied. Along with the orange, Don had set half a piece of toast on the plate. She glared at him, this time, he returned the glare with three times the force. "Now Sophia!" After the first two segments, Sophie heard her stomach churning, obviously rebellious to the intake of food. Donnie pointed to the glass of water. "That'll stop the churning." Sophie nodded, taking a sip of water. After two hours of eating unmercifully slow, regretting every bite, she had finally cleaned her plate.

Finally allowed to leave the table, although still under the eagle eye of her purple clad uncle, she made her way to her room, that now housed a small crib. Inside, Thomas lay still, now breathing much easier. Forcing herself to look down at his legs, she wondered how bad they were injured under the layers of white wrap. "You should be resting." Leo said. Coming up from behind her. Looked at the sleeping toddler, he wondered aloud. "Why'd you save him?"

"Sensei told me too." She said quietly, her eyes focused on Thomas.


	6. Chapter 6

At the piercing scream in her room, Sophie realized she had fallen asleep in the chair by that had been set by Thomas's crib. Looking at the clock, she realized she had slept through supper, not that she cared much. Holding onto the chair as she got up, she waited for the room to stop spinning before bending down over the crib and retrieving the squirming toddler.

Looking now clearly at the toddler's bracelet, she finally saw the whole description. After seeing his name on the front, she flipped to the back and read. As she got to the bottom, she became confused. "ASD, what's A.S.D?" Deciding to check it later, she got a better grip on the boy as she laid him down on her bed. Finding a bag of nappies on the desk in the corner of her room, along with other changing supplies, she came to the bed, she stilled the squirming toddler's legs.

Suddenly, she heard her door open. "Sorry button, I was hoping that he wouldn't wake you up." Mikey said, passing her the wipes. Being careful around his legs, Sophie wiped the boy before slipping a clean nappy under his bottom. Sophie was an expert at changing nappies, remembering how many times she had changed Jasmine's when she was a baby.

This was interesting though, she knew human boys were different, but she had never seen it up close before, except for the time when she had peeked in on Taylor when she was three and quickly closed the door behind her, but that was a quick glance. Trying to respect the young one's privacy, she quickly finished up, ashamed she had even thought of studying it. Looking at her father, she wondered. "How do they sit down?" She asked, before giggling.

Coming out to the living room Sophie set the small boy on the floor with some old toy blocks Mikey had found for him. All her uncles were there, she now knew this was either another intervention, or they wanted details. "Who is this kid?" Her red claded uncle asked. She smiled, knowing of course he was impatient and wanted to know everything now.

"His name is Thomas. I saved him from a burning building yesterday." Sophie said calmly, as though they hadn't yet figured it out. "After waking up yesterday morning, I felt that I had to meditate, so I entered the astral plain that I usually find mum." She began. "Instead Master Splinter was there and..."

Leo soon interrupted. "You saw Sensei? I've been trying to contact him since well..." Leo started, but stopped, not able to finish his sentence. He knew how upset Sophie was about their master's death, and didn't want to upset her again. Sophie gave him a sad smile.

"It's ok Uncle Leo. I'm alright." Sophie said, although her expression said something else. "He said that I had to save Thomas, something about him being the key." All the family's eyes popped out at this. "And before you ask, I don't know what exactly what for, except that Sensei said he was gonna save my life." If they hadn't been attached, Mikey's eyes would've popped out.

"Then we have no choice, we have to keep him here." Leo said, in his leaderly tone.

"But what if people start searching for him?" Raph asked, trying to be logical.

"Who's gonna look in a sewer?" Donnie reminded him. "Now, according to his bracelet, Thomas has diabetes, so I'm gonna plan out a diet for him, and keep track of his blood sugar.. As for his autism, I'll have to research more about it. Until then, Sophie can you plan a routine for Thomas?

"Why?" Sophie asked, curiously.

"Well, I know people with autism like to have routines. It makes them calmer." Donnie explained as Sophie thought about how to plan the day. Looking at Thomas, he seemed more interested on ripping the button off his shirt then he did the blocks.

"No Thomas." Sophie said as he pulled the small hand away from the button and put a block in instead. Thomas didn't look up at the mention of his name, nor did he start playing with the block. He just set it down gently beside him, and concentrated on the button again.

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That evening, Sophie had planned out a schedule with Don, who had now researched the basics of autism. Suddenly, Sophie heard yelling. Coming out to the den, she found Thomas poking a dead rat on the floor. "Ew, Thomas no!" She said as she picked up the boy away from the animal. Thomas screamed, being taken from the small dead rodent. Sophie cringed herself, looking at the dead rat. Doing the only thing she could, she kicked the rat away before taking Thomas into her room and putting him in the crib.

After yelling for another minute, Sophie observed the new behavior he was doing. Inside the crib, on the bars was a set of green disks that would spin when you flicked them. Thomas flicked the one and watched it spin. Then, he looked at the other one, and made it spin. He giggled at his new discovery, and continued to spin them, one after the other.

Soon, she took Thomas out of the crib and brought him to the table. She wiped his hands with a soapy cloth before checking the list her purple clad uncle made to what foods he could eat. Next on the list was supper and although she wasn't too interested, Thomas was. She picked two foods, actually portioning some for herself. Lining all his cheerios up around the small cup of sugar free applesauce, Thomas looked at each cheerio very carefully before eating it. When they were all eaten, he stuck his fingers into the applesauce and sucked it off his fingers.

Sophie was very careful with her eating too, only eating seven cheerios, and she thought even that was too much. But keeping in mind that the whole family was watching her, she managed to also eat a few bites of applesauce. That night, after putting Thomas to sleep, she thought again of what her sensei had told her. _...His survival is imperatively intertwined with your own, in more ways than one. _


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Sophie woke up to an odd sound. It seemed to be a hissing. She had thought she had heard the same noise yesterday, but it seemed to be louder now than it was then. Her mind quickly considered that maybe there was a snake in the room, but that didn't make sense. Standing up, she waited a moment for the room to stop spinning, but she was taken aback a bit when the room didn't revolve. That was right, she ate last night.

She'd worry about that later. Going over to Thomas, she found the source of the hissing. It was him. "Thomas, what are you doing?" Sophie asked gently as he continued to hiss, even louder than before. She wondered what was wrong. Not knowing what to do next, she decided to ask for help. Going across the lair to her purple clad uncle's room, she knocked. "Yeah, what is it?" The voice on the other end answered, a bit angry.

She stood there for a moment, angry wasn't her Uncle Don's thing. She decided not to disturb him and went back to her room to check on Thomas again. Looking at the schedule she'd posted above his crib, she saw it was time to get him up and check his nappy. It was dry, but changed it anyway, she figured the small boy wanted to feel clean.

Bringing him out to the kitchen for breakfast, she quickly assembled him a meal, pouring herself a cup of coffee. Sitting down next to the boy, who was looking off into space, she had to get him to eat. "Thomas, look here. I've got some apple." She said, trying to get his attention. He didn't look at first, until he heard a new sound enter the kitchen.

"Hey kid, what's up?" Raph asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee, as he sat by the pair. He looked at Thomas, who had started hissing again, this time rocking his head back and forth while covering his ears with his hands. "What's up with him?"

"I am so confused, I don't know how to get him to eat or pay attention, he won't even look when I say his name." Sophie grumbled, taking a sip of her coffee. "I don't know how Sensei thinks he's gonna help me. I mean, he's cute, but this hissing is driving me nuts. I know he can't help it." Sophie grumbled, feeling a bit guilty, Talking about Thomas as if he wasn't there.

"You'll find a way Soph, you're a smart gal." Raph said, picking up his mug and leaving. Sophie got the feeling he couldn't stand the hissing anymore than she could. Unfortunately, someone had to get the boy to eat. Looking back at Thomas, she saw he was now slowly chewing a slice of apple happily, his hissing absent for a moment.

"Good boy Thomas!" She cheered, as she picked up a slice from his plate and sticking it in her mouth, not even thinking. She then stopped, taking the unbitten apple slice from her mouth, what was she doing? She had eaten last night, she couldn't eat again for a few days, she decided. Looking lustfully at the apples on Thomas's plate, she let her eyes do all the eating for her stomach.

After breakfast, she went to the next activity on the list. Her Uncle Don had suggested trying to get Thomas to respond to his name. Sophie had noticed the other day that Thomas liked not only buttons, but anything that was a circle. A cheerio, buttons, wheels especially. He loved anything that could spin. Using a pack of tennis balls her uncle found at the junkyard, she started the little game.

First, she let him see the balls. Of course, he wanted to play with them. But after taking them away, Thomas started to fuss. She then took a tennis ball and held it up by her eyes. "Thomas." She said clearly as she tapped his arm. At first, he didn't look and started hissing. She was about to give up when he somehow noticed the ball. He reached to take it, but Sophie held it back. He started pouting, but Sophie soon gave him the chance to try again. "Thomas." She said again. This time, his eyes followed up her arm to the ball, and looked right in her eyes.

In that moment Sophie smiled, she had actually made a breakthrough. Smiling, she gave him the ball. Together they rolled it around for a minute before she picked up the next ball and started the whole process again. The second time wasn't as easy, but after a while she got the small boy to look at her nearly every time she said his name.

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That night, after putting Thomas to bed, she went and told her dad all about it. "When he finally looked at me, I saw a spark in his eye, like he had come out of his world for a minute to join mine. It was so incredible dad!" Sophie said as Mikey sat across her on his bed. He was smiling, Sophie hadn't been this happy for a long time, and Mikey was enjoying every minute of it. Then, he heard Sophie's stomach loudly roar.

She blushed in embarrassment, the loud growl interrupting her talking. "Sophie, did you eat today?" Mikey asked, his eyes becoming concerned. She looked at the floor, not wanting to face her father. Mikey sighed, shaking his head slowly in disappointment. Although Sophie didn't want to look, she finally made herself look up and saw her father's disappointment, her mood changing in an instant.

"You're not gonna tell Uncle Don, are you?" She asked quickly.

"Why?" Mikey looked at her, wondering what she was thinking.

"Because if you do, he'll take Thomas away and hook me up to the IV machine again." Sophie said, a bit of desperation in her voice. Mikey thought about Sophie, and what losing Jasmine had done to her, but he also was concerned about his daughter and Thomas for that matter.

"Don won't take Thomas away. But how do you expect to take care of him if you can't even stand up, huh?" Sophie thought about this. He did have a point, but she couldn't just break down and eat, in fear it would turn into a purging session. She wouldn't be able to do that tonight, her whole family keeping a sharp eye on her. "I'm ok dad, really."

But this time, Mikey wasn't taking no for an answer. "Ok, we either go to the kitchen and I watch you eat, or we go to Don's lab and have him hook you up to the machine. I don't care which, but you aren't gonna starve yourself, not today." Sophie gulped, it wasn't like her father to be that strict, that was usually Uncle Leo's territory. She sighed in defeat. At least if she ate and needed to purge, she could, but she also knew her dad wouldn't let her binge on any food.


	8. Chapter 8

Guiding Sophie to the kitchen, Mikey prepared her a meal. Although he was making it small so Sophie wouldn't freak and actually eat, he was determined to pack as much nutrients into it as possible. Deciding to make a smoothie, he grabbed some berries from the fridge and started chopping. Adding peeled apple slices, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries into the blender with plain soy yogurt and soy milk, adding a scoop of protein powder, he started the blender.

Sophie quickly tried to add all the calories in that one smoothie. About twenty-five calories in the blueberries, about sixteen in the raspberries, twelvish in the strawberries. That was pretty low, but she knew the yogurt and soy milk added about two hundred calories. If she could get out of her father's sight tonight, she'd definitely do extra ninja training to burn the calories off, since she couldn't purge it.

As Mikey handed her the glass, he saw the trepidation and hesitancy in her first sip. Sophie's mind kept swirling, reminding her of the calories and conflicting textures in her mouth she had come to hate. Suddenly, she started coughing hard. Mikey, thinking she was simply choking grabbed another glass, filling it with water, and while turning back to hand it to her, could see she was gone. He soon heard gagging sounds from outside the lair.

His heart broke in that instant. He was watching his daughter slip away from him, and there was nothing he felt he could do. Hearing the noise Leo came into the kitchen, and started a moment at Mikey and the almost full glass of smoothie. As soon as Mikey saw Leo, he broke down. Leo grabbed his brother into a hug, soothing him with comforting words. "I can't lose her Leo, she's all I have left of Marie." Mikey blubbered as he cried.

"It'll be ok Mikey. We're not gonna let that happen. We'll get her to see what she's doing is wrong." Leo soothed him as they both heard the lair door open a minute later and watched as Sophie went into her room, the door slamming behind her.

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In her room, Sophie went to switch on the stereo so she could cry in peace, but the hissing soon reminded her of the small guest in her bedroom. Instead, she switched out the cds in the stereo, choosing classical instrumental. She knew right away that Thomas was listening because immediately his hissing stopped and he uncovered his ears. Taking a small round cracker from her binging stash and approaching the boy, she held it out. "Thomas." She said clearly as the small boy looked up at her eyes, where she held the cracker.

He giggled as Sophie handed him the cracker and looked at it for a moment, appreciating it's roundness before taking a small bite. "You're so lucky Thomas. When you're bored, you can escape from this world into your own. The older I get, the smaller and less available my imaginary world becomes." She sighed, as she looked to the boy, who was now playing with the wheels of a truck Donnie had fixed up for him.

Gazing among her bookshelf for a book to entertain herself with, her hand drifted to the green, bejeweled picture frame that showed a picture of her with Jasmine. She smiled, they both looked so happy in that picture. She remembered the day the photo was taken. It was at Jasmine's 5th birthday party. It had been a simple get together at the farm house, just their family and hers. This photo showed Sophie and Jasmine, who was holding up the toy microphone she had gotten from Sophie as a gift.

A few tears came out of Sophie's eyes. As far as she knew, she wasn't even able to talk to Jasmine right now, let alone see her, so there was no point in calling. Suddenly she heard a knock at the door, and she reluctantly opened it. It was her purple clad uncle carrying the smoothie in one hand and his blue med satchel in the other. Sophie now knew this was her choice, and there was no way out.

Reaching into the satchel, Donnie pulled out a small syringe. She knew from the first time she had been forced to take the IV, it was a sedative. That first time she had been administered that, she had pleaded with her uncle beforehand not to make her take the IV, fearing the IV fluid would make her fat. He sternly, but kindly said that if she refused to eat food, he would have no choice. She had fought with her uncle, even swinging her kamas out of desperation. She of course was easily overpowered and immediately given the sedative. When she awoke about 8 hours later, she was hooked up to the IV machine. She had thrown a fit then, ripping it out of her arm and ending up with a bad infection that had left her in bed for a week and needing to receive not only IV fluid, but also IV antibiotics.

She wasn't gonna freak out this time. Removing her sweater, she allowed her uncle to inject the sedative. It was a hard choice, but she knew she wouldn't be able to stomach the shake or risk a binging/purging session. Donnie, of course was surprised. His niece wasn't scared of needles, but figured she'd choose anything else than an IV, which allowed him to give her the precise amount of fluids she needed. That, in itself was a big step, whether she knew it or not. She had just trusted him enough to give him control of her problem.

With a hint of regret, he slowly injected the sedative. Before falling back on her bed in unconsciousness, she uttered something. "Take care of Thomas Uncle Don...nie" She said, immediately having her head fall back onto the pillow of her bed.


	9. Chapter 9

(Don's POV)

Gathering Sophie up bridal style, I quickly realized how underweight she was. Nodding it off, he carried the young turtle to his lab to put in a new IV. I had bought the bags of IV saline off a pharmaceutical website as soon as I and my brothers had discovered Sophie's eating disorder well over a year ago. At first I thought it would be simple, I simply had to use a sedative and put in the IV and wait. It wasn't. This wasn't just a matter of the weight she gained from food, it was how Sophie coped with the loss of Master Splinter.

That I couldn't fix. Two weeks after the first treatment, not only did Sophie not trust me, she also had started purging whenever she was forced to eat. Unfortunately, it became a bi-weekly habit. Relentless exercising, and a box of laxative I had discovered soon after made me go back and research how to emotionally and mentally help her.

As I flushed the chosen vein in her leg, I heard a growl as Raph stomped into the room. "What is it Raph? I'm busy." I said, all his concentration still on the IV. Raph impatiently waited until I finished and turned to him. "How can I help you?" I asked, a mild tone of sarcasm, annoyed with Raph's impatient grunting and growling.

"Who's gonna take care of the kid? His antics are driving me nuts!" Raph yelled. I sighed, I had promised Sophie he would take care of Thomas too. Well, at least having Thomas in the lab would allow me to examine his specific autistic behaviors.

"Just bring him here, and I'll look after him." I said, pulling up the document on his laptop that had Thomas's schedule on it. Raph nodded, and a minute later Raph brought in Thomas who seemed very distressed. He was covering his ears while rocking his head back and forth, while hissing extremely loud as tears were running down his face. This seemed to be his reaction to every one of us except Sophie. I wondered why that was.

X X X

(Raph's POV)

After carrying that kid into Donnie's lab, I went back to watch more TV. Sitting down on the couch, I tried to affix my concentration back to the wrestling match, but found my own thoughts clouding it. Why would sensei have wanted this kid to help Sophie instead of us? We didn't even know who he was, and yet had decided to keep him.

What if his folks were looking for them? Don said no one would look in the sewers, but since the Kraang invasion when they were teenagers, plus the mutagen they had cleaned up in the whole city, many more humans came snooping around in the New York sewers. We, of course were safe with our ninja training, but what about him? If he ever got out of the lair without our knowledge, he'd be an easy target.

Finding myself switching to the news channel, I decided to watch for anything about the fire. I soon found a report and turned up the volume. "_Local reporters are still trying to find out what caused a ferocious fire at a Brooklyn apartment complex just three days ago. Over 70 people were killed and nearly 35 wounded. On the scene is our field reporter James Mars, gathering information from locals on the event. Jason, what have you found out?" The anchorwoman asked as the screen changed to another reporter on a Brooklyn street._

_ "Well Carol, citizens have told us this fire was first seen at around eight thirty that morning and it could soon be clearly viewed about fifteen minutes later engulfing the whole building. Upon further investigation, local police soon discovered that although there were many exits, the building wasn't up to city safety codes. Faulty fire alarms, expired fire extinguishers, and many other factors led to the quick destruction of this building. While many people are injured, there are also a few missing. Specific details of these missing have not been released to the public yet, but until then, the city is reminding everyone to make sure you have working fire alarms, and up-to-date fire equipment." Jason said. _

I switched off the TV, getting the information I had needed. Thinking again, maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on Thomas, it wasn't his fault and he was still bound to be shaken up after what had happened. My thoughts then turned again to Sophie, he thought about the night before she found Thomas. I wanted to help her, but didn't know how. I couldn't understand why she kept starving herself. She wasn't fat, far from it, and it wasn't gonna bring sensei back. of course I'd find himself thinking about my father.

I had always known he and Sophie had a friendship, but until he died, I didn't realize how close they'd been. I remembered the funeral. Mikey had been forced to Sophie to come to the funeral, although she had wanted to stay in bed and cry. For a few days after, she wouldn't eat, but soon ate. I knew she hadn't started starving until a few months later. I remembered being angry, at his father at first for leaving them, but weeks after I'd find myself lashing out for no other reason than just losing my temper.

X X X

(Leo's POV)

I sat in the dojo, wondering what to do about this situation. Sensei's death, although timely was very sudden. He'd been seventy years old, but in perfect health. He had still had his hearing and vision, mostly, he hadn't been sick or unwell, it had just been old age. Although the reason was natural, I knew Don blamed himself for it, which is why he was taking on so much work, even getting a job as an IT guy part time.

My thoughts turned to Mikey and Sophia. When they had appeared at the lair that Friday evening, they'd all been shocked. It had been a regular scheduled movie night. Casey and April had brought down, Dr. Acula, a hilarious parody of Dracula that was so witty, even I found it hilarious. That night however, my whole family had been presented with an unexpected surprise, our brother's return.

Mikey, we soon discovered had been severely hurt, being captured and tortured by the Shredder, meeting the love of his life, losing her, and caring for a young daughter all in five years time. He had come back broken, but also a lot stronger and more mature. Painfully though, the Shredder had left his mark, Mikey upon returning dealt with horrible seizures after prolonged exposure to many raw toxic plants and herbs.

Mikey had also been hesitant to live with them again for fear of Shredder and Karai's return. I had told him that we had defeated them while looking for him. Although that had been a great relief to him, Mikey had been hesitant to move back to New York permanently.

Sophia, on the other hand had been very excited. At the tender age of five, she had been excited to explore not only the lair, but as she got older she loved exploring the sewer tunnels surrounding their home. She hadn't been too much of a troublemaker, Mikey being a disciplinary father, as Splinter had been to them. I thought about what sensei had told Sophie, that Thomas was gonna save her life. That was a lot to put on a small, autistic boy. He just hoped Master Splinter was also keeping an eye on her.

My thoughts finally turned to Thomas. Raph was right about one thing, someone was bound to look for him. Although I doubted they would look in the sewers, he's have Donnie set some more alarms around the tunnels closest to our home. He was so innocent, and small. I quickly understood why Sophie kept such an eye of him. He wondered how this small boy would help Sophie overcome her eating disorder, when her own father couldn't help her.

X X X

(Mikey's POV)

I sat in my room, ashamed of myself. When Splinter died, I could see Sophie isolating herself more and more. I should've known something like this would happen. I had let someone else down. Suddenly, images of Karai's attacks on me flashed through my head. I tried to swat it away, but the thoughts kept coming. _Then, my mind went to Marie, and how she had jumped in just when Karai was swinging her final blow. Karai had saved up all her power for this last attack, Marie hadn't stood a chance. _

_ The katana had sheathed cleanly right through her plastron and heart. I had looked at Karai, unimaginable anger in my eyes. Then, realizing she had the edge, she done the most cruel thing anyone could, stepping down on Marie's plastron, she pulled the katana out as cleanly and ruthlessly as she could. I stood, and roared. Making her trip with my nunchuck, I grabbed the fallen katana and slashed it down her left arm, cutting it right off._

_ Running to Marie, I heard her utter her last words. "Mikey...I love you. Take our daughter and r..ru..run" The word run followed by a violent moan as she painfully breathed her last breath. _

My mind finally snapped back at the knock on my door. I opened it, looking at the turtle on the other side. Oddly enough, it wasn't a turtle, it was April. I growled in the back of my throat, remembering what she and Casey had done, taking Sophie's only support away from her. Nevertheless, I opened the door, allowing her in.

X X X

(April's POV)

Casey told me what happened the other night. Raph had called him in anger, accusing them of hurting his niece with their insensitivity. Casey had also gotten into a rage, saying they only wanted to protect Jasmine and had never meant to hurt Sophie. When Casey had told me however, he had said he felt extremely guilty. In reality, we both knew how close Sophie and Jasmine were. Jasmine had even begun being really moody and negative since the loss of one of her closest friends.

We had even found her one night, trying to climb down the fire escape into the sewers to see Sophie. Of course we punished her, although her intentions were noble, wanting to be a good friend. As I woke up this morning, I knew I'd be the one who would have to clear things with Mikey. That night, I swallowed all my pride as a mother and forced myself to go down and clear things up with Mikey.

In the lair, I was immediately met with unhappy faces. Leo stared at me, before nodding in disappointment and going into the dojo to meditate. Seeing my face, Raph had muttered some curses in Japanese before going to work on the Shell cycle. Oddly, Don had not been out where he could see me. I walked and looked in the crack of his door as his gaze was shifting from a toddler on the floor to his computer screen. I decided not to even ask.

I approached Mikey's room, knocking the door...

**TBC **


	10. Chapter 10

April knocked at the door gently at first before she heard Mikey on the other side, getting up as he opened the door. April heard him growl, and frowned knowing she wasn't his favorite person. Nevertheless, he invited her in. She went into his room and sat down on the fold-up chair that Mikey had set up for her.

"So, what've you been up to Mike?" April asked, trying to break the ice. With the look on the turtle's face however, she immediately opened up. "Look, we're sorry, ok? Casey and I...well we weren't exactly sure what to think."

Mikey immediately stood up, pointing to the door. "Do you wanna know where my daughter is now? She up in Don's lab, unconscious because she's too hurt to eat. You two knew, you KNEW how important Jasmine was to Sophie, and you just took her last bit of stability she had!" Mikey was fuming, not believing he had just yelled at April like that. He wasn't one to get angry, but April gave him a sad smile, seeming to understand where he was coming from.

"You're right. But it's not our fault that she has this eating disorder. Jasmine hasn't been the same without Sophie either. She's been going off at Casey and we caught her trying to sneak out a few weeks ago. I know you guys have had your hands full with Sophie, so we kept our distance, probably much more than we should, so I was thinking maybe you guys would like get together sometime. We could bring down a movie and eat pizza, just like old times. Come on, please. " April asked as Mikey slowly broke into a smile, a small one but a smile nonetheless.

"Sure. I'm sorry April, I didn't mean to go off at you. It's just hard to see my little girl like this." Mikey started as April took his hand.

"It's ok. I understand. I'm a mom too." April said.

X  
X  
X

X  
X

(Sophie's POV)

I awoke, still groggy from the sedative. I looked at my leg and although the IV was still there, there was no more fluid pumping into it. I was glad Uncle Don had stopped the IV. Although I had agreed to it, didn't mean I wanted to see it. Besides that, he had probably learned from last time that I'd pull it out, no matter what my previous actions had said. I couldn't exactly get up and walk, even if the IV hadn't been attached, I was still too tired, but I wanted to know how Thomas was doing. I looked around to see the lab was empty.

That was odd, but it was nice to have some quiet, although my shell was aching. I never slept on it, it had always felt unnatural. I usually started on my plastron and woke up in my shell. It was definitely more warm, especially in the sewers. Speaking of temperature, I was freezing, but I couldn't exactly yell and ask for a blanket, and unfortunately with this IV in, I didn't want to risk going into my shell, so I decided to wait.

Soon enough, Raph came in and saw me awake. He came over and sat by me. "Hey kid, you ok?" He asked. Somehow his voice, although rough seemed to calm me down. "Ya know, that was a pretty brave thing ya did, letting Don give you that IV. I know it must have been hard for you, but we're real proud of ya." He said as I smiled lightly, still groggy.

Finally, after shivering a bit, he understood. "Here." He said, pulling a big, comfy blanket up around my arms and plastron, tucking the ends under my legs. Something about my Uncle Raph always made me feel safe, protected, and comforted, maybe that's because he wasn't really sweet to anyone else but me. "Get some rest, I'll let everyone know you're awake." Just as Raph was leaving the room, he turned back to me. "Oh, and your dad has a big surprise for you on Friday night."

I suddenly felt like a little girl again, I was so excited. I missed that feeling, it warmed me inside. To be excited, or anything that wasn't gnawing guilt or depression was a nice change. I briefly wondered what the surprise was. Just then, all my uncles came in, my father carrying Thomas, who was currently asleep. They had that look, we were having another intervention.

X  
X  
X

(No POV)

Sophie looked at her family, unsure of exactly what was gonna happen. She felt a much more awake then when she first woke up, about an hour and a half ago. Don of course started the conversation, being the one who knew what to ask. "Ok Sophie, let's not beat around the bush, how are we gonna do this? Because we can't sit back anymore and watch you waste away." Don said, taking the IV out of Sophie's leg, instantly giving the girl relief. Just having it inside her gave her the creeps. Sophie looked up at her purple clad uncle. He was right, she knew, and by now she had gained back any weight she had lost. Although she knew this would make her want to lose weight even more, she nodded, she was too tired of this. She had to stop.

"I don't know how I'm gonna do that. I know it makes sense and everything, but life isn't gonna neatly fall back into place. I want to stop, but I just can't." Sophie said, trying not to cry.

"Can I ask you something Sophie?" Leo said, grabbing the female turtle's attention away from the thick of the issue for a second. She nodded. "What do...? I mean," Leo started, unable of how to ask. "When you do a binge and purge session, what does it feel like? What thoughts are going around in your head?" Sophie somehow felt a bit relieved, thinking at first he'd bring up what their sensei would've thought about what she was doing.

"Oh, ok. First off, I used to choose when to do a session. At first, it was just because I was so ravenously hungry, I couldn't stand another minute of not eating, but now I have a lurching in my stomach, like when your brain tells you you need to go to the bathroom. I keep three stashes of food around the lair." Sophie admitted, knowing that keeping secrets just wouldn't cut in anymore. Her family's eyes all widened at the fact she had three stashes.

"I have one in my room, under the bed. Another I have in that pipe Dad and I used to both hide in when we were little. The last one is..." Sophie stopped herself, she couldn't tell anyone that. Everyone would hate where she had hidden her last stash. It was an area that nobody had talked about or been into (well, except Sophie) for a long time. In that moment, she felt like the worst daughter and the worst niece in the world. The third stash was hidden somewhere they all considered to be sacred now. Sophie couldn't stand to see the shame in her family's faces, so she asked Don for a piece of paper and a pen.

Don looked at her puzzled but nevertheless complied. She wrote down the last place on the paper, and handed it back to him. Her face then went into hysterics as Don unfolded the note and read.

He seemed to understand, but frowned all the same. Just then Sophie couldn't take it anymore. "Don't show Uncle Leo. I can't, he wouldn't... Even if you could ever forgive me, he wouldn't." Sophie pleaded.

Leo looked stunned at what had just come from his yellow clad niece, where could the last stash be that he wouldn't forgive her for? "We're all family Sophia, I'm not here to judge you. Please let Don show me? I just wanna help you." Leo said as she nodded, but quickly went into her shell first, so she wouldn't have to look at his disappointment. Mikey, looking at the insecurity of his daughter, went over and patted her shell, and gave Leo the evil eye, telling him not to get upset, no matter where the third stash was.

_The note said... "The third stash is in Sensei's room."_


	11. Chapter 11

Needless to say Leo had been shocked, and a bit angry, but hadn't shown it there. The family had finished their discussion, Sophie describing what triggered her binges and how in between she fought them, trying not to eat, but it was so hard it would hurt. After the location of the third stash though, no one had really wanted to continue, especially Leo. So they finished an hour later with a pretty good solution. Since Sophie's treatment had brought her back up to body weight, her purple clad uncle was gonna start her on Paxil, and monitor her behaviors.

In the meantime, she would be watched twice a day to make sure she ate and not purged and the scale would be locked up, only to be used by Don to keep track of her weight to make sure she was keeping healthy. She and Mikey would work hard on communicating to Marie on the astral plain for extra support, and Leo would start leading her and all of his brothers in ninjustu training again. Her stashes would be raided and food would be locked up, so she wouldn't be tempted. Plus, she would continue to care for Thomas in every other way that didn't concern food.

Mikey was also watching his daughter very carefully. Now that he was sure of what triggered Sophie's bingeing/purging behaviors, he had the tools to prevent it. One thing Sophie had mentioned was the twenty topping her father insisted on putting on his pizza. Mikey knew she had always disliked it, but she had told him all the strong, pungent smells made her nauseous and want to binge, sometimes even without stuffing her face first. Thinking about it now, he observed he could do with less, but it wouldn't be easy.

x

x

x

x

x

The next morning, Sophie was awoken by the vibrating of her T-phone. She had always loved getting up early, it gave her time to wake up and organize her thoughts. This morning, Sophie would've much preferred to stay under her covers. Her head hurt and her stomach felt bloated from being forced to eat last night.

Nevertheless, she picked up the phone, taking a double take at the number. Tentatively, she answered. "Hi Jazz, what's up?" She asked, being so happy and nervous at the same time, she barely heard her response. "Sorry, what'ya say. I just woke up."

"Seriously, it's almost four in the afternoon." Jasmine started to say as Sophie grabbed her clock from the side table.

"Nantekotta, watashi wa sore ga asa no yottsuda to omotta!" Sophie panicked as Jasmine started to yell on the other side.

"Sophie, Sophie! Remember, me no Japanesey speaky!" Jasmine said trying to calm her down. Sophie caught her breath.

"Sorry Jazz. I just...I have something to do." Sophie said, looking in the crib, wondering where Thomas was.

"Ok, I just wanted to say I'm really excited for tonight and I can't wait."

"Well, that's nice." Sophie said, not really listening. "Ok, gotta go. Call ya later. Bye!" She quickly hung up the phone, Sophie's brain finally registering what Jasmine had said. "Wait, what's happening tonight?" She wondered aloud. Looking at Thomas's schedule, she found four pm and ran to the dojo where she sighed in relief. On the floor was Thomas who was sitting on the ground, playing roll the ball with Leo.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" She said as Leo lifted his head. Sophie could tell her uncle was still angry with her because his face went stoic, with. Sophie almost turned away, but instead made her face as unemotional and stoic as her uncle's.

"Don wanted to let you sleep." Leo said, in a slightly angry tone before looking back at Thomas who had started to hiss. Leo rolled the ball back, getting his attention slowly. "Come on Thomas, roll it back now." Leo instructed gently. Sophie huffed as she left the dojo. She knew Leo would be mad at her, but she just didn't expect him to act so harsh and dismissive. Right at that moment, she wanted to cry. All her life, she had wanted to please her uncles, and she, making one mistake ruined her relationship with her eldest uncle and the new clan leader.

Her stomach gave her that familiar lunch and she ran to the pantry. Finding it locked, she pounded the lock, which was attached to a large chain against the tan pantry, letting out a choked sob. The chains slammed against the pantry, which sparked attention. Suddenly, she heard footsteps and tried to run out of the kitchen, but was caught by a green hand. She looked back, finding her red clad uncle with a frustrated frown on his face, she knew he had seen the whole thing.


End file.
